


The Helmet

by Haayls



Category: Radiata Stories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-26
Updated: 2015-05-26
Packaged: 2018-04-01 09:31:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4014610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haayls/pseuds/Haayls
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As Lord Jasne watches his only daughter leave on her first mission as a Radiata Knight, he notices a striking resemblance between her and her late mother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Helmet

**Author's Note:**

> I would have held off on writing this if I knew I could fit it somewhere in “Journey of Knights” (that’s the feature-length fanfiction I’ve been procrastinating on for those who don’t know already) but this fits outside of the timeline so an independent vignette is what it will be.
> 
> I like to delve deeper into characters’ personalities either through short theory posts or short stories like this one. The latter is usually the more fun option. For this one, I wanted to explore why Jasne is such a worrywart.

He watched her go. The little girl he had raised from birth had now matured into a lovely young woman. Her future was just beginning and he was proud to see her accomplish something as great as ascension into knighthood. He knew very well how hard she had practised to win the selection trials and it was satisfying to know that all that hard work had not gone to waste. He anticipated the day she would finally become a knight and follow in the noble footsteps of her predecessor. With her golden hair shining in the sunlight, he was overcome with a sense of nostalgia. She looked just like her mother. Just like the love of his life. His stomach began to churn, the more he thought about the striking resemblance.

            Indeed, she looked exactly the way her mother did when she would leave the castle on yet another mission. He always stood outside the castle early in the morning for his wife’s departure to send her on her way and waited in the same spot with anticipation on the day she was expected to return from her journey. He remembered the exact dates of her missions with vivid detail. His memory of his wife was not foggy in the slightest, but he knew that should he grow old and forgetful, and lose sight of all those memories, there was one date in particular that he knew he would never forget in a million years.

            It was a chilly September morning exactly ten years prior and it started out like any other day. It was two days after Sigourney had left on a mission and Jasne was still waiting for her return. She was expected back tomorrow and in the meantime, he watched over their 5-year old daughter, Ridley.

            In the middle of giving her a piggy back ride as he charged down the halls of the castle and being given looks of disapproval from the castle staff, he found himself face-to-face with two heavy guardsmen.

            “Look, daddy! They fight bad guys like mommy does!” Ridley exclaimed, pointing at the guardsmen, “When I grow up, I’m gonna fight bad guys with mommy, too!”

Jasne shushed her as he stared dead-on at the men.

            “Lord Jasne, there you are, sir,” one of them said. “We checked your quarters but you weren’t there. There’s been some urgent news from the general.”

            Jasne side-eyed the two knights as he lowered himself to allow Ridley to climb off of his back. “Urgent? In what way?”

            The guardsman held out a helmet.

He took a moment to think back to where he had seen the helmet until he recalled the events of two days before. It marked the beginning of one of Sigourney’s missions. He had ordered the servants to cook her the most delicious breakfast she would ever taste: a warm pretzel roll with blackberry jam, grape tomatoes, five slices of salami, and goat cheese on crackers. Sigourney didn’t think something so hearty was necessary but Jasne was insistent she be well-fed before her mission.

            He helped her gather everything she needed for the road ahead and made sure to “secretly” drop some chocolate into her knapsack along with a note that read, “Good luck on your mission. Do come home safe, my darling. I love you. –Jasne” as he normally would and would see her to the castle entrance as their daughter followed in their footsteps.

            Just as she was about to leave with her brigade, she felt a tug on her wrist. Expecting it to be her daughter, she saw she was mistaken when she turned around.

            “Sigourney, my love…” Jasne began. His eyes welling up with tears, “Please be careful.”

            Sigourney smiled, “Jasne, you always say that.” She chuckled, “You’re going to wear yourself out fretting over me so much. If you start to miss me, you can just look at my portrait on the wall. Not like there will be any need, of course. I’m sure Ridley will do fine at keeping you company. ” Sigourney winked at the young girl by her husband’s side.

            “Yes, I know but this mission isn’t like your other missions. This one carries a much higher risk. You know I don’t want to see you get hurt. I want to see you return on your own two feet, not on a stretcher.” Tears began rolling down Jasne’s cheeks.

            “Oh dear…Ridley bawls less than you do.” She leaned in, giving her husband a peck on the nose. “Cheer up, sweetie. You know I’m just teasing. But you know I’ve been doing this for years. I’ve been exposed to danger many times but I’ve always pulled through.”

            “But what if you don’t this time? What if this time is different than the others?”

            “That will be for me and my brigade to worry about; not you.” Sigourney embraced Jasne in a tight hug, the smell of her perfume hypnotised him, “Don’t worry about me, Jasne. I know what I’m doing. I can take care of myself.” The woman kneeled down before her daughter, “Make sure you take care of this big baby.” Sigourney said with a wry smirk before standing back up fully and turning to her brigade as she slid her helmet onto her head, her ponytail tucked neatly underneath. “I’ll bring you back a souvenir!”

            Between Sigourney and her helmet, only one of them made it back in one piece.

            Jasne stood silently before the guardsmen, holding his wife’s helmet, the sweat of his palms creating handprints on the metal.

            “Daddy, what’s wrong? It’s a pretty helmet. Don’t you like it?” Ridley cooed.

            He held in the tears from two days ago and tried not to cry in front of his daughter nor the guardsmen.

            One of the men broke the silence, “My lord, if there’s anything—“

            “Leave me!” Jasne pushed through the both of them and stormed off.

            The rest of the week was spent sulking in his room in the presence of his onlooking daughter, whom he tried to stay strong for. He knew that one day his daughter would take up the same duties as her mother. There was nothing he could do about that but he had to make sure that her days as a knight would not end as tragically as Sigourney’s had. As a symbol of that, her helmet was locked away in a cabinet in his bedroom to which the key he had intentionally disposed of.


End file.
